THOMPSON-BRENT

DIED  IN  THE  LINE  OF  DUTY

On July 7, 2016, a peaceful demonstration was being held in Dallas, Texas, to protest alleged police shootings which had recently occurred.  Without warning a shooter ambushed and fired upon a group of officers guarding the demonstration, and before the shooter was killed, five police officers were dead, nine other officers were injured and two civilians were also wounded.  The shooting was the deadliest single incident for U.S. law enforcement officers in the United States since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Unfortunately, Brent Alan Thompson was one of the slain police officers.  Officer Thompson was a member of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit which operates trains and buses in the region.  He was the first DART officer to die in the line of duty in the 27 year history of the organization.  Following graduation from high school in Corsicana, Texas, Thompson joined the Marine Corps in 1991 and served until 1994, primarily at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina.  On returning to civilian life he entered law enforcement in the Navarro County Sheriff’s Office where he was assigned to the county jail and also taught at the Navarro College Police Academy.  But, like most young officers, he wanted to do a different job. 

Thompson next became an employee in 2004 of Dyn Corporation for which he worked for nearly five years.  Here he was Chief of Operations for Southern Iraq where he was responsible for the day to day operations conducted by American police officers who trained and mentored the Iraqi Police.  He was reportedly also assigned in southern Afghanistan where he was a Team Leader and Mentor to the Southern Provincial Police Chief.  Concerning his work Thompson wrote, “In all locations we mentored and taught our Iraqi/Afghan counterparts democratic policing and assisted in the establishment of police departments in these locations.”

He joined DART in 2009 as a police officer.  Here his Police Chief said, “He was an outstanding patrol officer as well as a rail officer.  We have the highest respect for him.  He was a dedicated officer, dedicated to the safety of Americans all over the world.  We deal with all kinds of people down here, so we try to have someone with the personality to deal with all kinds of individuals, someone with a personal touch and not a heavy-handed approach.  Brent was really good at that.  He was a patrol officer, a great officer.” 

Only two weeks before his death, Officer Thompson married a fellow DART officer.  He was survived by his new wife, six children and three grandchildren.  Following a funeral attended by hundreds of police officers from around the country, Brent Alan Thompson was buried in a family cemetery on his family’s farm in Navarro County, Texas.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)